Do you believe in black magic?

[Trayner]

No such thing as magic , miracles and god and so on , all made up to make people believe in nonsense

The only black magic is when Kobe gets a 3 point in

 

[Stressball]

Miracle curse that "work" are placebo effects, or pure coincidence. Like homeopathy. How badly do you need to be clutching at straws to believe that drinking water with the right molecules in it (since water supposedly has 'memory', never mind that physics as we know them completely obliterates this concept) can cure you of anything and everything? Particularly since they're diluted hundreds upon hundreds of times. For example, say a 100c solution, is 1 part active ingredient to 99 parts water. Then they take one drop of that solution, and dilute it 1 part to 99 parts. Then they repeat 98 more times. There's not even a single molecule of the 'active ingredient' left in it by the time you drink it.

But, back on topic

Seeing 'proof' of a curse is like seeing Jesus in burnt toast. You're looking for something that isn't there, and since the brain is pretty much a resource hungry pattern-recognition centre, it will find patterns where they do not exist. It's extremely intelligent, but to maximise resources it takes shortcuts and fills in the blanks. Damn Interesting • Chuck Bonnet and the Hallucinations

It is worth noting that the human brain already has significant talent in dealing with partial blindness. Every human eye has a blind spot where the optic nerve passes through the retina, and the visual cortex automatically fills in these blind spots by extrapolating what should be there based on the surrounding detail. Since a person’s two blind spots do not overlap, the brain can also cross-reference the eye data when both eyes are active. In gradual-onset blindness, it is possible that these brain pathways attempt to fill in the new obscured areas. Since the eyes are sending reduced amounts of data with a greater frequency of errors, the visual cortex may produce more and more outlandish guesses.

You can indirectly perceive your own blind spot by using the image below. Simply sit close to your screen with your right eye covered, and focus on the word “Interesting.” Maintain that focus while slowly moving away from the screen, and at a particular distance the logo will disappear although the blue lines and the word “Damn” will still be visible. If you change your gaze, the logo will no longer be in the blind spot, and it will reappear.

This page illustrates and explains the concept very well; how the brain takes shortcuts. In the same way that the brain fills in the blind spot on your eye, it fills in gaps in the area where it detects patterns. To see 'proof' of a curse is to accredit irrelevant factors to the curse, rather than logically considering them to have been X in Y chance of happening and therefore, reasonable to assume is unrelated. Patterns are everywhere; if you want them to be.

 

[nemesis_adrasteia]

i don't really believe in it, having said that i have participated in some rituals. mostly just as a learning experience.

 

[blacknight]

I just returned from her funeral and the household is very quiet about this. She's 42 with 3 kids and a loving husband. but for the life of me, I'm not sure why they took the time to burn all her clothes and photographs. Maybe somekind of superstition. anyway, life goes on...

 

[sik_dose]

Petrol and weed will make you see/ think some crazy sh1t. Pull the bowzer out of your nose and all of a suden the dream time wont seem so believable.

 

[Smitty]

everyone can believe what they want (its a free country)
but in my case

...bollocks

 

[sik_dose]

Coolest black magic trick i have ever seen is the disapearing long neck. As soon as its in the brown paper bag its invisible.

 

[vr94ss]

I've always been partial to the "you wanna see an elephant?" trick. Or the "you wanna see my sunburn?" I admit that's a bit juvenile but I still try and pull them on the wife every now and then.

Is that magic? Nah, practical joke.. Bugger. It feels magic, does that count?

 

[Powerbait]

You say the culture doesnt allow an autopsy?

Is this in Australia? If so where abouts? And what race of people are we talking about?

Cheers Davo.

 

[Rusty]

This is the only black magic I believe in:


I see black magic as a type of placebo. It will affect those who allow themselves to be affected by it.